Nanasipauʻu Vaea – Queen of Tonga

Nanasipauʻu Vaea was born on 8 March 1954 as the daughter of Siaosi ʻAlipate Halakilangi Tau’alupeoko Vaea Tupou, Baron Vaea of Houma, and Tuputupu -‘o-Pulotu Vaea, The Honourable Baroness Tuputupu ‘o Pulotu Vaea of Houma. Her father was the son of an illegitimate half-brother of Queen Sālote of Tonga. Queen Sālote had three illegitimate half-brothers that we know of: Edward, Vuna and Vilai. Vilai was Nanasipauʻu’s grandfather.

She married the future King Tupou VI of Tonga on 11 December 1982. At the time, he was second in the line of succession behind his elder brother, who would become King George Tupou V. His second brother had lost his succession rights when he married a commoner. Her husband joined the naval branch of the Tonga Defence Services in the same year of their marriage.

Nanasipauʻu gave birth to their first child, Princess Lātūfuipeka Tukuʻaho, on 17 November 1983. A second child, (Crown) Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, was born on 17 September 1985. Their third child, Prince Ata, was born on 27 April 1988.

In 2006, her father-in-law died, and he was succeeded by her brother-in-law. He was not married, and he had no legitimate children, which meant that her husband was now the Crown Prince, and she was the Crown Princess.

King George Tupou V died just six years later, a few months after he had surgery to remove his right kidney, where a tumour had been found. Nanasipauʻu and her husband now became the King and Queen of Tonga. They were crowned in a joint ceremony on 4 July 2015. They were both crowned by retired Australian Methodist minister D’Arcy Wood, as no Tongan can touch the head of their King and Queen.

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In 2012, the same year as her husband’s accession as King, the new Crown Prince married his second cousin, Sinaitakala Fakafanua. She is in the line of succession in her own right as well. This caused some controversy due to their close family relationship. Since their marriage, they have had four children: Prince Taufaʻahau Manumataongo (born 2013), Princess Halaevalu Mataʻaho (born 2014), Princess Nanasipauʻu Eliana (born 2018) and Princess Sālote Mafileʻo Pilolevu (born 2021). Nanasipauʻu’s two other children have not yet married.

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In 2015, she and her husband met Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle and they had an audience with Pope Francis.

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In 2018. she and her husband welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Tonga.

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In 2023, she and her husband attended King Charles III’s coronation in London.

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